Monday, 2 January 2017

Celebrating 30 years as an anarchist, 1987 – 2017

Celebrating 30 years as an anarchist, 1987 – 2017 Time flies when you’re having fun; I can’t believe it’s 30 years since I was liberated from two years of indentured labour in the apartheid SA Defence Force and became an anarchist. There was a guy called Cliff in the Army whose girlfriend was a German anarchist; back then, that was pretty exotic and the idea intrigued me. As a young student I quickly gravitated towards the alternative movement which was anti-militarist, anti-fascist and pro-gender diversity, and began to read books on anarchism ordered through Deep South Distribution (Cape Town). Between Vanegeim and Bakunin, I found the first obtuse and the second engaging, confirming an early bias towards pro-organisational, class-struggle, collectivist anarchism, but I also used the Natal Mercury newspaper morgue to research The Angry Brigade, indicative of what became a sustained interest in insurrectionary anarchism too. The two tendencies, mass and insurrectionary anarchism, constitute what Lucien van der Walt and I later defined as “the broad anarchist tradition”.It was inevitable that, working in Durban, I would encounter, then join, the Anarchist Awareness League founded by Shane Freeman – and with that began a lifelong affiliation with anarchist organisations regionally and globally. Within seven years of becoming an anarchist, I was involved in forming the first of eight regional and three international, multiracial anarchist organisations and initiatives I have started over the years. I was also involved in founding five press freedom initiatives, and three African anarchist journals. This strong focus on organisational construction has underpinned my activism in the townships and further abroad.Four years after that, I performed my first duties as an international delegate, to Zapatista-held Chiapas. Overs subsequent years, I would not only return to Mexico, but conduct work and activism in 42 other countries on six continents, marking my perspectives as deeply transnational, though my primary focus is Sub-Saharan Africa.Ten years after becoming an anarchist, I started writing my first pieces for the anarchist press, on the struggle for democracy in Swaziland, a path that would eventually lead to the publication of three books on anarchism – one of which is a political science set-work in US and SA universities – and two on Southern Africa’s transition to democracy from an anarchist perspective. I am currently working on three new books on anarchism, two on journalism, and two multimedia projects, with more in the pipeline.Although in recent years, my work and activism has, on balance, shifted away from journalism towards press freedom and human rights, I have become, thanks to my past 16 years of research in nine languages for the Counter-power project, the leading expert in the history of the global anarchist movement since its origins in the trade unions of the First International in 1868. I am exciting about my current research into anarchist history, theory, tactics and strategy, and look forward to many more decades of constructive work in the cause of the broad anarchist movement for direct democracy, autogestion, free association, and horizontal, federated, mass-organised proletarian counter-power.1987 – 1992: Researched anarchism as a young anarcho-punk1992 – 1993: Joined the Anarchist Awareness League (AAL)1993 – 1997: With the AAL and other collectives, co-founded the Durban Anarchist Federation (DAF) 1996: DAF delegate to the Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN), Chiapas, and Guatemalan Civil War1997 – 1999: Joined the Workers’ Solidarity Federation (WSF) 1997: Started writing for the WSF journal Workers’ Solidarity 1998: WSF delegate to Socialist Caucus (Zambia), and co-founded with Wilstar Choongo the Anarchist Workers & Students’ Movement (AWSM), intended as a WSF affiliate 1999: WSF delegate to both factions of the Confédération Nationale du Travail (CNT), France1999 – 2003: With former WSF members, co-founded Bikisha Media Collective (BMC) BMC delegate, elected treasurer, Worker’s Library & Museum (WLM) 2000: BMC co-delegate to the CNT Vignole’s Autre Future (France), met Federation Anarchiste (FA) & Alternative Libertaire (AL) Work began on what becomes Counter-power 2001: With BMC and other organisations, co-founded International Libertarian Solidarity (ILS-SIL) With BMC, co-founded and started writing for its journal Zabalaza 2002: Founded the Anarchist Black Cross – Southern Africa (ABC-SA) and its journal Black Alert With the ABC-SA, founded the Anti-Repression Network (ARN) 2003: BMC delegate to founding conference of the Encuentro Latino Americano de Organizaciones Populares Autónomas (ELAOPA), and to ILS-SIL summit (Brazil) With ZACF and other organisations, co-founded and started writing for the anarkismo.net website With Black Action Group (BAG), Soweto, co-founded the Phambili Motsoaledi Community Project (PMCP)2003 – 2010: With ABC-SA, BMC, BAG and other collectives, co-founded the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Federation (ZACF); elected international secretary 2004: ZACF delegate, distributes anarchist materials (Rwanda) ZACF delegate to Anarchist Round Table (New Zealand) 2005: ZACF delegate to Civil Society Conference (SA) Five Waves (which becomes Cartography) published (SA) Trip to Iran to meet with Edris as ZACF delegate cancelled 2006: ZACF delegate to al-Badil al-Shuyu’i al-Taharoui (BST) and to cover Summer War (Lebanon) ZACF delegate to ZACF (Swaziland) 2007: ZACF delegate to cover Darfur War (Sudan) ZACF restructured as Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF) 2008: Work began on Mass-Line Anarchism With ZACF and CNT-Vignoles, founded the Afrique Sans Chaines journal Published in Die groβen Streiks (Germany) Anarquismo Búlgaro em Armas (Mass-Line Vol.1) published (Brazil) 2009: Black Flame (Counter-power Vol.1) published (USA) Black Flame launched (SA & Mexico) ZACF delegate to ex-Socialist Caucus (Zambia) 2010: Founded the Professional Journalists’ Association of South Africa (ProJourn) on a mirror of the ZACF constitution; elected admin secretary Black Flame launched (Canada), and ZACF delegate to Common Cause (CC) Ontario, Union Comuniste Libertaire (UCL) Quebec & Organización Popular Anarquista Revolucionaria (OPAR) Mexico2011: With ProJourn, founded The Ulu Club for Southern African Conflict Journalists Work starts on The People Armed Met ex-North Eastern Federation of Anarcho-Communists (NEFAC), USA Met Mötmakt (Norway), and Alternative Libertaire (AL) & Confederation des Groupes Anarchiste (CGA), France.2012: Delegate to the General Assembly of the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN), Sweden, and met the Sveriges Arbetaren Centralorganisation (SAC) Founded the Southern African Cities of Refuge Project (SACRP) Cartographie de l’anarchisme révolutionnaire published (Canada) As a former Clive Menell Media Fellow, co-founded the Menell Media Exchange (MMX) in SA Invited to present on anarchist history at the 140th anniversary International Anarchist Gathering at St Imier (Switzerland), but unable to afford costs2013: Failed to get a visa to meet persecuted anarchist Brahim Filali (Morocco) Interviewed for Ni dieu ni maître: Un histoire de l’anarchisme (France) and met Alternative Libertaire (AL) Cartography of Revolutionary Anarchism published (USA) Planning started on Not Night, but An Absence of Stars Schwarze Flamme published (Germany) Failed to meet Libertarian Socialist Movement (LSM), Egypt Co-founded the Institute for Anarchist Theory & History (IATH-ITHA), Brazil; elected council member2014: SACRP delegate to the General Assembly of ICORN (Slovenia) Cartography launched in Slovenia and met Federacija za Anarchistično Organiziranje (FAO) Cartography launched in Australia & New Zealand and met Anarchist Affinity, Jura Books, and the Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group (Australia), and Rebel Press (New Zealand) Work began on Radio Freedom (Zimbabwe) SACRP launched in Johannesburg and Cape Town to promote ICORN Met with Embat and corresponded with Confederación General del Trabajo (CGT), Spain Work began on The People Armed, Isandlwana – a Love Story, & on Black Crowbar Drinking with Ghosts published (SA)2015: Drinking with Ghosts launched (SA) SACRP hosted ICORN delegates in Cape Town to promote it as a City of Refuge A Taste of Bitter Almonds published (SA) SACRP delegate to Safe Havens 2015 (Sweden) Met the Sveriges Arbetaren Centralorganisation (SAC) and Mötmakt (Norway) Work resumed on The People Armed2016: International panel of anarchist historians drafted onto The People Armed project Planning started on Unexploded Ordinance, and Death Flight Bitter Almonds launched (SA) SACRP relocated Zimbabwean human rights defender to Windhoek (Namibia) SACRP delegate to civil society conference on the National Action Plan to Combat Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia & Related Intolerance (SA) SACRP delegate to Southern African Human Rights Defenders Network (SAHRDN) conference (SA) SACRP delegate to IAJ/AKF Reporting Racism Conference (SA) SACRP delegate to Safe Havens 2016 (Sweden)2017: Final phase of writing of Wildfire (Counter-power Vol.2) under way Planning on Death Flight: Apartheid’s Forgotten War-Crime under way[ENDS]

About Me

Michael Schmidt is an African field reporter with 28 years of experience, and a reputation for producing unique and challenging copy, having worked for 19 years on some of South Africa's leading print titles including The Mercury and Sunday Times. He was involved as a senior journalist with the start-ups of ThisDay, and of what is now Independent on Saturday. He was group special investigative writer for Independent Newspapers' seven weekend titles before going into journalism training. He has five books published and is developing six more books and four multimedia projects. He was a 2009 Academic Leader at Tecnológico de Monterrey (Mexico), a 2011 Media Fellow at Duke University (USA), and a 2017 Fellow at the Arts Rights Justice Academy (Germany). He continues to write for both the mainstream and alternative media. He is:
* former Executive Director, Institute for the Advancement of Journalism (IAJ)
* Administrative Secretary, Professional Journalists Association of South Africa (ProJourn)
* Convenor, Southern African Cities of Refuge Project
* Co-Creative Director, Not Night, but An Absence of Stars